


never too far from home

by asweallfallfromgrace



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Injuries, Neurodiversity, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-12-07 23:37:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20984291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asweallfallfromgrace/pseuds/asweallfallfromgrace
Summary: what will become a collection of one-shots about the OS trio.(title from “never too far from home” from the totally pokemon soundtrack)





	1. the get-along vest

**Author's Note:**

> I love these three. This first chapter is just a goofball writing exercise, taking place in early-ish kanto.

They were arguing again.

Brock rubbed his forehead and sighed. They’d been walking all day, and Ash and Misty had been at each other’s throats for at least half of that. 

He supposed they’d just both woken up on the wrong side of the bed. They’d gotten into the Pokemon Center late last night — possibly his fault, since they’d gotten lost because he’d misread the map — and everyone had generally been cranky since then.

He’d tuned it out for the majority of the time. He’d essentially raised nine kids under the age of nine, after all. If he was sensitive to childish arguments, he’d have lost it after a week. 

Even with all of his child-rearing experience, though, six straight hours of baseless accusations and bickering would wear anyone out. 

He thought it was somewhere around midday where even Pikachu, arguably Ash’s closest ally, had jumped ship — the electric-type was currently clinging to his own shoulder as they walked slightly ahead of the other two.

He didn’t mind, though it was a tad disconcerting to see Ash without Pikachu.

It was worth it to know that he wasn’t the only one who found this whole experience ridiculous.

“And who was the one who fried my bike?” Misty’s voice reached a fever pitch.

“That wasn’t my fault—“ Ash’s was equally shrill, but something finally gave way.

“Okay, enough!” Brock stopped dead in his tracks as Pikachu echoed his yell, whirling around to face the younger Trainers, who abruptly quieted at his outburst. 

He led them to a nearby rock. “Sit. Be quiet. Please.”

They apparently were startled enough to follow his instructions, because they sat while he paced, trying to figure out how to keep them from killing each other.

Finally, he found an idea.

And if it wasn’t a perfect strategy, well, desperate times called for desperate measures. 

And after all, the two of them had always reacted well to humor to lighten a situation.

——

“How long are you gonna make us do this?” Ash asked, trying to move his shoulder away from Misty, who was stony-quiet, giving both of her male companions death glares. Pikachu sat perched on his head, possibly to watch their predicament from a closer angle.

“As long as it takes for you two to at least tolerate each other,” Brock said lightly, casually staring at the map. “Or, if that won’t happen, at least until we get to Fuschia City.”

Hopefully sooner. He was starting to get cold without his vest. 

After all, the get-along shirt was a classic, though more of a psychological tactic than a physical one. And he’d had to improvise a bit. Good thing he was a fair bit bigger than either of them.

Even so, once he started hearing two sets of muffled giggles from behind him, he knew it wouldn’t be much longer, anyway.

Though he didn’t expect the two of them to cooperate enough to take it off, sneak up behind him, and somehow manage to trip him with it. His vest, and his map, went flying. 

Oh well. At least they weren’t screaming at each other anymore.


	2. vigil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ground types aren’t such a good match for Pikachu. 
> 
> Set in early-ish Johto.

Ash stared at the flashing sign over the closed double doors, feeling the pit in his stomach widen with every minute that passed.

_This can’t be happening. This isn’t happening._

They’d been battling a trainer and their Donphan, which Brock had judged to be “pretty high level, Ash, be careful”. 

And he had been, but apparently that wasn’t enough. 

He figured Pikachu would appreciate the practice, especially against a ground-type. 

Even after three Quick Attacks and a (not well-thought-out) Thunder, the Donphan had enough power to let off an Earthquake, then a Hyper Beam...the image of Pikachu hitting the ground headfirst, lifeless, kept replaying in his mind. 

The Donphan’s trainer had offered him their last potion, apologizing profusely for letting things get out of hand, but it hadn’t done much except heal a few of the scrapes — Pikachu was still unresponsive. So they’d rushed to the Pokemon Center, which fortunately wasn’t too far away.

Nurse Joy had taken one look at Pikachu and almost wrenched him from his arms, giving Ash a look that promised a chat about his treatment of Pikachu in the near future. She, a Blissey, and a Chansey had rushed him back to the emergency room on a gurney, and now he was sitting in the waiting area, along with Misty, Togepi, and Brock.

He lowered his hat over his face, trying to hide the tears he was desperately trying to hold back. 

_Pikachu..._

He must have said that out loud, because both of his friends looked up. Misty made a sympathetic face, like she would have said something, if the sign hadn’t gone off and the doors hadn’t opened.

Nurse Joy stepped out, her expression unreadable. 

“Ash? Pikachu’s stable.”

“Stable?” he heard himself asking. 

“Yes. He had some pretty severe injuries, though...he’s not awake yet.”

He heard Brock wince at her words. That made Ash’s heart jump into his throat, partly because he hadn’t started to flirt with her at all yet.

“Will...will he be okay?”

Joy sighed. “As far as I can tell, yes, he will be. What I can’t tell you is when he’ll wake up.”

“Can I see him?”

Her expression softened. “Of course.”

The three trainers followed her into one of the recovery rooms.

And there was Pikachu, tucked into one of the beds, cleaned up and sleeping peacefully. 

Ash sunk into the chair, staring at the little Pokémon. Pikachu’s chest rose and fell gently, which was an improvement on the raspy breathing from before. 

From behind him, Togepi squirmed out of Misty’s arms with a “toge-priii!” and jumped onto the bed, earning it a “Careful, Togepi!” from its trainer. It plunked itself down next to Pikachu, giving him a gentle hug. 

It was almost camera-worthy, but Ash didn’t have a camera. 

After Togepi let go, Misty took it out of the room. He honestly would have run out too if he didn’t want to be there for Pikachu. He kept his eyes squarely on his partner, not paying attention to anything else.

“Ash?” 

He turned around to see Brock, holding a bowl of stew. 

“I brought you something from the cafeteria,” he said, putting the bowl on the table next to him. “Misty’s upstairs in our room with Togepi — she’ll be back down once it falls asleep.”

“Thanks, but I’m not hungry.” 

Misty chose that moment to make an appearance, gasping faux-dramatically at his lack of appetite. Brock shot her a “not-now” look.

“Sorry,” she said.

Ash shook his head. 

“You really should try to eat, though,” Brock said. “Or at least have some water.”

He could probably handle some water. Misty must have felt bad for her earlier attempt at a joke, because she got some for him, which he drank slowly.

“It’s going to be all right, Ash,” she said. 

Brock put his hand on Ash’s shoulder. “Pikachu’s strong. He’ll be okay.”

He hoped so. Every small movement Pikachu made seemed like he was going to wake. 

So he kept watching. Time was...odd, things felt fuzzy and uncomfortable and thick.

Nurse Joy came in every so often to check on Pikachu — she seemed a bit worried about him as well, but he’d rather she focus on Pikachu.

Misty and Brock stayed in the room, for the most part. Misty kept checking on Togepi, while Brock...honestly, he didn’t know what his deal was. He stayed in the room for longer periods than Misty, though, about which Ash didn’t know how to feel. 

It must have been two or three in the morning when he finally started to nod off, though there was a tightness in his chest that made it difficult.

Binder. Right. 

He mentioned this to Brock, who wasn’t thrilled. 

“It’s been fifteen hours at this point, Ash. Go take it off,” he said. “If Pikachu wakes, I promise I’ll get you first thing.”

If it wasn’t starting to become painful, he wouldn’t have gone. He trusted Brock, he just...didn’t want to leave Pikachu. But he couldn’t take the compression for one more second, so he went to the bathroom and wrestled out of the binder, burning his eyes from the brightness of the antiseptic bathroom in the process.

But when he got back, Pikachu was still asleep. 

Almost immediately, he was too. 

His sleep was restless, and at one point he woke up from an extremely vivid dream of Pikachu with his heart pounding in his chest. His hat and jacket were on the table next to him — he really had to tell his friends to stop mother-henning — and the sun was just starting to peek through the curtains. 

“Pi,” he heard Pikachu say, which perked him up through an instant shot of adrenaline.

“Pikachu?”

Pikachu blinked, opening his eyes. “Pika-pi!”

Ash felt all of his muscles turn to jelly, relief flooding through his veins. “How’re you feeling, buddy?”

Pikachu grinned. “Pika!”

And after the check-up and Nurse Joy’s go-ahead, after breakfast at the cafeteria, after all the logistics that he couldn’t process due to sleep deprivation, they were off again.

That was all Ash needed.


	3. a mankey punches ash in the face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ash got in the way of a mankey and it hit him in the nose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fucking hell i can’t stop with the ash whump why am i like this
> 
> anyway i tagged this neurodiversity because my autistic ass was projecting on ash — i also need to know why things are important before i do them.
> 
> also i need to write more misty into my fics this one only mentions her rip

The Indigo Plateau Conference was noisy, and chaotic, and crowded. Everywhere you looked, there were groups of overexcited Trainers and members of the media. 

Of course, Brock was used to its particular brand of people-and-Pokemon noise by now, being a Gym Leader and having just the right number of siblings to fill a room with noise no matter what. 

Even so, it was really nice to find a quiet corner of the Pokemon Center. He loved his friends half to death, but it was a bit of a relief to hear that Ash was going out to train and Misty was going to check out some of the vendors. 

The seat he’d found was especially a good spot because he had an excellent view of Nurse Joy. He felt a blush rising in his cheeks, even from 30 feet away. 

What would it be like to sweep her off her feet...

Before he could get too far into his daydream, though, a yellow blur landed solidly on the table, chattering at a pace of approximately a kilometer a minute.

Brock blinked. “Pikachu? What’s going on?”

Fortunately, the answer came within about five seconds in the form of its Trainer, who was hot on the heels of the electric-type. 

Ash didn’t look too good. He was pale, and there was something that looked suspiciously like blood all over his face, particularly from his nose. 

Brock could almost feel the hormones receding from his bloodstream. 

“Arceus, Ash, what happened to you?” 

”Got caught between a Mankey and its Trainer,” he replied.

Brock winced in sympathy. He remembered their first encounter with the fighting-type —- this seemed milder, but still not at all pleasant. 

“Is your nose bleeding?”

“Yeah. I think it freaked Pikachu out a bit.” The two of them looked at the Pokemon, who was still on the table, watching their conversation with a wary eye. 

“Don’t worry, Pikachu,” Ash said. “I’m fine.”

Classic Ash, worrying more about his Pokemon than himself. “You are...quite a sight right now, though,” Brock said. “Do you want me to get Nurse Joy?” He wouldn’t mind being able to talk to her again... 

“She’s busy.” Ash said, sounding rather furtive. Brock had questions, but he knew Ash probably wouldn’t answer them. 

Instead, he opted to dig in his bag for tissues. After all, nosebleeds were definitely within his forte, first aid wise. 

“Okay. Here, sit, and tilt your head forwards.” 

Ash sat, visibly relaxing, and Brock made a mental note to ask about his reluctance later. Pikachu jumped onto his lap, still keeping a watchful eye on his trainer. Brock handed him a tissue.

“Pinch your nose with that,” he instructed. “Doing that should make it stop soon.” He’d learned that in these situations, he always had to give him the reason why he needed to do things, or else he wouldn’t do them. 

Even so, Ash tried to look up at him to reply, and ended up coughing on what Brock knew was probably the blood. 

Arceus. He resorted to trickery, or at least distraction.

“Ash. Don’t look at me. Keep your eyes on Pikachu.”

“Pika!” Pikachu seemed to think this was a great idea, because he looked up at Ash enthusiastically.

That brought a smile to Ash’s face, and he kept his head in the right position while he stroked Pikachu’s fur.

By then, the nosebleed had seemed to begin to ebb, and after a few more quiet moments of Pikachu-adoration, it stopped. 

“Can I look up now?” Ash asked, his voice a bit throaty. 

Brock chuckled. With how impatient Ash could be sometimes, it was hard to remember that he was, in fact, a seasoned Pokemon Trainer with eight gym badges. “If Pikachu will let you, go ahead.” 

True to form, Pikachu did give a small “chu!” of annoyance once his Trainer stopped focusing his attention on him, but jumped back onto his shoulder. 

An excited grin spread across Ash’s face. That almost instantly brought Brock a sense of relief —- Mankey must not have done any permanent damage. “I’m gonna go back out and do some more training.”

“You’ll be great!” Brock told him. “Just...please stay out of the way of that Mankey.” 

What he really meant, of course, was “be careful and don’t get hurt again,” but he knew that, in the grand scheme of things, a bloody nose was probably the most minor injury Ash would get. After all, he knew he himself had gotten worse. 

He just hoped Ash wouldn’t.


End file.
